01722nam a2200169Ia 4500 181130s2018 xx 000 0 und d Liu, Shan-Jan Sarah Are female political leaders role models?: lessons from Asia 2018 p.255-269. Jun Despite vast research on women�s descriptive representation, little is known about its influence on women�s political engagement in East and Southeast Asia where gender norms are different from those in other parts of the world. I theorize that the discrepancy between women�s political and social rights in the region makes it difficult for women to envision themselves as equal to their male counterparts. Thus, women are less reluctant to play a �man�s game� even when they see female political leaders. Using a multilevel model with data from the Asian Barometer Survey and various additional sources, I examine the impact of female parliamentarians in the region and find that they significantly reduce women�s political participation. My results suggest that the female legislators� role model effect found in existing literature on Western democracies does not apply to East and Southeast Asia. Instead, female political leaders generate a backlash effect on women�s political engagement. This research raises implications for the role of context in the effectiveness of women�s symbolic representation and calls for further exploration on the connection between women�s symbolic and descriptive representation. - Reproduced. Politics - Asia Women in politics - Asia Political Research Quarterly Women in politics - Asia 506821 506821 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-12-07 71(2), Jun, 2018: p.255-269. AR118616 2018-12-07 2018-12-07 AR